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As I talk about the new Cher book, I’m breaking the posts up into (at least) three parts. The first part (this post) includes the links and artifacts of the book and book review highlights.

Next I’ll do highlights of interviews from television, radio and podcasts that I’ve accumulated.

Finally, I’ll go into my own review notes at the end.

There will also be stray posts focusing on bombshell pieces of the book. I’ve already done one on Sonny not letting Cher listen to music in the house and I have one planned about the chapter where Cher dramatically depicts leaving Sonny for “The Guitarist” in the band.

So here we go. According to Harper Collins, the book will eventually come out in these languages and formats:

French
Amazon FR: https://www.amazon.fr/Lautobiographie-lic%C3%B4ne-pop-Cher/dp/B0D89PLCLT/ref=sr_1_2
This one is currently shipping. I haven’t received my copy yet.

Italian
Amazon IT:  https://www.amazon.it/Cher-memoir-Vol-1-Cher/dp/B0D97PQ8JJ/ref=sr_1_1
I ordered mine from the ES site below because the IT Amazon site gave me an error, but it seems a few euros cheaper at the IT site.

Amazon ES:  https://www.amazon.es/Cher-memoir-Vol-1-Cher/dp/B0D97PQ8JJ/ref=sr_1_3
I received mine almost a week early. It’s in paperback form and some things are strangely untranslated, like the chapter titles and Diane Warren’s lyrics. Although the preface chapter is translated. There has been some snickering about Cher’s bio on the back flap of the book (simply “Cher is a global icon”). I’ll go into that below but it assumes everyone knows who Cher is. The Italian version strikes me as funny (which many things in Italian often do): “Cher é un’icona globale.”

Spanish
Amazon ES but there is still no page for this one, although Harper Collins confirms there will be a Spanish edition.

Mañana!

German
Amazon DE: https://www.amazon.de/-/en/CHER-Die-Autobiografie-Teil-eins/dp/3365009205/ref=sr_1_1
You can purchase this one but it looks like it doesn’t ship until March of 2025.

Portuguese
Amazon ES:  https://www.amazon.es/-/pt/dp/B0DNFZ61F4/ref=sr_1_1?
Only available in Kindle so far.

Mañana!!

The Audio Book
Cher and Stephanie Block read the book which you can get anywhere audio books are sold. Next year they will also release a CD version of the audio book.

News about the audio book: https://www.eonline.com/news/1409267/cher-announces-audiobook-for-her-memoir-and-weve-got-you-on-all-the-details

Get it from Audiobooks.com: https://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/cher-the-memoir-part-one/786439

Review Highlights

So now on to the highlights of the book reviews and newspaper interviews, which were all pretty intensely positive. This was both surprising and not surprising since Cher seems most popular as a vehicle unto herself than for any specific piece of work or media effort. She commented to The New York Times that she wouldn’t be reading the reviews because she didn’t want to get her feelings hurt. She needn’t have worried. They’re the best of her career.

New York Times Book Review:
“Her frank autobiography is a testament to resilience…before Twitter morphed into the strange ghost town of X…Cher was one of its finest sheriffs…her confident, confiding new autobiography…her famous contralto has been modulated, but not Autotuned past recognition…America’s melting pot personified, and her long place on the front (and sometimes back) burner of pop culture evokes both the country’s loftiest promises and its worst failures…these 400 pages show the mettle behind the Mackie. Here’s to a sequel with sequins.”

The Washington Post (paywall):
(Louis Bayard)
[This one was a bit catty and overwritten.]
“That the woman may take a while to grasp her centrality becomes the de facto narrative arc of Cher…[the book] had nearly as many ghostwriters as the King James Bible [but] her hearteningly profane voice still emerges…Surely, of all the pop divas in the past half-century, she has been the least concerned with her own reputation….even protesting the very idea of fixing herself in history. Catch her if you can….Then, too, there’s the question of which Cher we’ll be reading about. I have lived through at least four or five…decades later, and to her credit, Cher is able to recover veins of joy [with Sonny]…”

iNews UK:
“Breathless memoir…spares no details and we’re only halfway through her life…the 411 breathless but soberly delivered pages…my, how Part One delivers…eschewing frippery [I had to look that word up], Cher unfurls a life full of Dickensian poverty, mansions with servants, heartbreak, good luck, bad luck, financial chicanery and unlikely events…it’s an extraordinary and extraordinarily cathartic memoir. Even when she’s winning during a journey that defies rational belief, Cher still thinks and acts like the underdog she so often was as a child: only the most flint-hearted could fail to root for Cher. The next forty-something years are barely alluded to. This is more than enough for now.”

The Los Angeles Times:
(Marc Ballon)
“The personification of female empowerment, Cher has done it her way…intelligent, sensitive and engaging…at the center…is the life-changing, tortured, supportive, destructive and co-dependent relationship with Sonny. Without his prodding, vision and drive, Cherilyn LaPierre Sarkisian would likely have never become the fabulous Cher. And without her talent and love, Bono would have likely remained a bit player on the fringes of the entertainment industry…[their] arduous climb back makes for some of the book’s most gripping reading…the memoir soars when Cher writes about Bono, it flags a bit when she discusses her other relationships, [Geffen]…similarly, her reflections about [Gregg] Allman lack depth…these are minor quibbles. [The book] is a fun read, a candid and well-written book…Cher is one of the handful of artists whose extraordinary life merits the extra ink.”

Kirkus:
“The vicarious experience of wealth, glamour, and romance is rarely this much fun. A truly great celebrity memoir…an all-American rags-to-riches dream….[of Sonny] she loved this man, and always will. The story of Sonny & Cher is a story of the ’60s and ’70s, of the growth of the music and television industries, of fashion and celebrity culture, of the evolving role of women in the 20th century. And the skinny on her relationships with music mogul David Geffen, second husband Gregg Allman, and KISS front man Gene Simmons is just as riveting.”

Slate:
(Laura Miller)
“Fabulous…this irresistible book…its candid (yet not-quite gossipy) accounts….despite the involvement with ghostwriters, her voice rings out frank, profane, and delightfully unaffected…it’s the story of Cher’s life and roots before her arrival…that offers the real key to the diva–to bother her personality and her particular flavor of celebrity. Cher begins way back….the misfit cool made Cher a star in the ’60s and ’70s…She was a girl mocked and rejected by the small-minded and provincial, who triumphed in the greater world thanks to her unconventional beauty, her innate sense of style, and above all her authenticity. Even as Cher evolved into a full-fledged diva, her feet never left the ground. So much of the charm in Cher comes not from the stories about other celebrities, but from her vivid memories of childhood, her long friendships with other women, her penchant for cooking big holiday meals for her family. She can turn a phrase and speak the unvarnished truth….Cher was no calculating Madonna or steely Streisand. She played it by ear, like so many of us, taking her knocks with grace and her wins with humility. This makes Cher the best sort of company in stormy times. If she can make it through and thrive, maybe the rest of us can too.”

The Irish Independent  (paywall):
[I could not access this review.]

The Atlantic #1, “What a 16-Year Old Doesn’t Yet Know (paywall):
(Emma Sarappo)
“Cher’s book is a valuable document of a young girl thrust into an adult world. Her current perspective, at 78, allows for frank assessments of difficult situations.”
[I was unable to access the full review.]

The Atlantic #2, “Cher Has a History Lesson for Us All”  (paywall):
(Sophie Gilbert)
“Cher has come to stand for a brassy, strutting kind of survival over the years, and on this front, her memoir is awash in insight and rich in details…a Steinbeckian saga of grim endurance, her life with Bono is a volatile scrapbook of life in 20th-century entertainment…the American musical establishment initially deemed her too outré in her bell bottoms and furs, and then–as the sexual revolution and rock music took fire–too square…in Cher, she offers a persuasive, wry, rousing account of what made her, and what she was able to make in turn…her read of things [luck] understates her sheer force of will–her outright refusal, as with the Oscar dress, to ever be counted out….[on Cher saying she just wanted to tell stories] “and she does, but in a form that can’t help doubling as a broader history–an  account of all the things women have suffered through (casting couches, financial ruin, humiliating public scrutiny) and fought for (authority over their own bodies).”
[I was unable to access the full review.]

The Pinnacle Gazette:
“Extraordinary life story…a survivor against the odds…the grit and determination behind the persona….a figure who has consistently defied mainstream norms and stereotypes…the vulnerability behind her glamorous exterior…the complex web of love, anger and forgiveness intertwined throughout [Sonny and Cher’s] lives…Fame may have been swift for Cher, but it was built upon her relentless work ethic and the desire to create genuine connections….[the memoir] successfully weaves complex tales of personal strife and resilience….her trademark blend of sincerity and cheekiness…one of the most beloved icons of our time. Cher’s larger-than-life personality leaps off the page, engaging readers with her sharp yet warm voice.” This review quotes other reviews:

  • “a riveting tale spun with spontaneity and humor” (Alexandra Jacobs)
  • “in moments of vulnerability, Cher manifests strength, capturing the essence of what it means to be human.” (Gerard Shans)

The Guardian:
(Barbara Ellen)
“Cher is one of the all-time great US entertainment queens…in sometimes unnecessary detail…while reading Cher’s passages about Bono….you’re reminded of her ‘faulty emotional thermostat…she still seems intent on spraying air freshener over Bono’s reputation, reminiscing at great, fond length about their onstage chemistry and banter. You find yourself wanting to scream: ‘Cher, he stole all your money!’

[This and the LA Times review both mention that Cher fails to note that David Geffen later comes out as gay. I’m sure this was intentional.]

“Does it matter? Only sometimes, when, among the forensically detailed recollection, there’s a sneaking sense of the real Cher, the one we’re very keen to get to know, standing behind carefully frosted glass. Still, in the main, Part One makes for a hearty, full-bloodied read: a gusty tale of high-octane showbiz survival from one of pop culture’s true 20th (and 21st) century stars. As it ends, Cher is toying with disco and contemplating acting. Maybe in Part Two, she’ll really let herself rip.”

The Independent :
(Adam White)
“Cher’s flat new book exposes the limits of the ghostwritten memoir….not sounding like ‘her’…saucy without being crude [stories] …her delivery and timing, her way around a punchline.” [The book feels] “oddly stilted…no suspense and silliness, no smack-talk….never quite sounds like Cher. It’s Diet Cher. Lukewarm Cher. Whipped-into-shape-by-an-overzealous-editor Cher. There is a smattering of swear words…and some brief flashes of withering disdain to the drab and unchic among us. But overall the book sis just too conventionally told….ribald jokes are drained of their spiciness…the book seems lost in translation. Absent is the je ne Cher quoi, if you will….The problem with trying to emulate Cher on the page is that her voice is particularly distinct: a dryer-than-dry mis of innocence, bluntness and almost masculine swagger…there’s that deep, silky tone to it, too–something evocative even when transcribed in an interview. It’s as if God wanted to create a voice easily imitable for the world’s drag queens, then worked backwards from there until he made the woman…it’s particularly disappointing because the material is there…[For part two, White wants] “Cher on paper thwacking half of Hollywood. I want Cher being ruthless and mean. I want Cher!”

[So The Guardian and Independent reviews are not positive. But White is clearly a Cher fan and I cannot disagree that the voice in both of her self-penned books is watered-down Cher. White is actually very good at describing that unique voice of Cher in interviews. I just disagree with him that the Cher Voice is what we need here. If you’ve ever heard Cher tell a story at a live show, live talk or give an acceptance speech, there are a lot of gaps there in her performative thinking, a lot of rambling off topic. Alexandra Jacobs of The New York Times might call it a “round of verbal 52 pickup” similar to her old Twitter posts. Reading a book of that would be incredibly difficult for most people. Not something I still wouldn’t buy. After all, I love difficult books. But aside from that, there are biographies out there made up entirely of Cher quotes. You can go buy those. To explain Cher’s story to the world at large, we need more clarity, more narrative organization. And to get this kind of clarity we have to sacrifice Cher’s unique storytelling style and idioms. However much we fans like it, the story of Cher’s life can’t be a frustrating read for everyone else.

The Sunday Times:
(Hadley Freeman)
“[Her] life story is jaw-dropping…prime ministers and presidents are allowed–just–to write multi-volume autobiographies, not pop stars who once sang “The Shoop Shoop Song”…there was some sniggering [at that]. Not even Elton John, not even Barbra Streisand pulled such a power move with their memoirs. Could one celebrity’s life really stretch to more than one book? This, it turns out, was very much the wrong question. The correct one is, is there enough paper in the world to contain a life as jaw-dropping as Cher’s?…Not even Dolly Parton–not even Streisand–can hold a candle to Cher’s cultural dominance. Music, TV, and film: she’s been a star on them all….most celebrity memoirs suggest that the star’s success was all but inevitable, such was the strength of their talent. What comes across in Cher’s was how extraordinarily lucky she was. Talented and determined, no question. But the near-misses are extraordinary….it’s a shame the writing is too often so unlike Cher’s charismatic voice…[but] some laden writing isn’t going to diminish her.”

The Arts Fuse:
(John R. Killacky)
“A compellingly candid chronicle…for over sixty years, Cher’s expansive talents have not only blazed multiple trails, but been amazingly resilient….a hardscrabble life…

Salon:
(Kenneth Womack)
“[Her] story of grit is purely American…a uniquely American story…surviving on pure grit.”

Womack jokes about the back-flap bio “Cher is a global icon….virtually any other celebrity would be required to rehearse a slew of accolades. But not Cher. In her case, it’s patently unnecessary. You’ve always known her.” [We see below that this is, in fact, false. The kids below don’t know her.] Womack describes his first concert, Sonny & Cher at their extended residency at Houston’s Livestock Show and Rodeo (Cher talks about this run of shows in the book).

Hodges Figgis booksellers customer review:
(Alex Diam)
“What a life, what an artist, what an icon!….She’s truly a survivor.”

Rolling Stone (paywall):
[I couldn’t access this review.]

Vulture:
(Justin Curto)
“Stunning stories…Cher has lived many lives–singer, actress, TV host, fashion icon, not to mention wife and mother….

Washington Examiner (paywall/sign-in):
“One of the more likeable qualities of the clunkily titled Cher: The Memoir, Part One, is that its author appears to have taken great delight in writing it. Cher guides the reader through…with chutzpah.”
[I was unable to access the full review.]

Book Reporter:
“Her remarkable career is unique and unparalleled…her trademark honesty and humor…this diamond in the rough succeeded with no plan and little confidence to become the trailblazing superstar the world has been unable to ignore for more than half a century….it is a life too immense for only one book.”

The Sydney Morning Herald:
(Nathan Smith)
“There were many doubters who didn’t believe she could sustain a career on her own…she finally pauses from persevering and looks back…a two-part memoir, one emblematic of the entertainer’s legendary excess and extravagance….inspiring grit and resilience…forced to reinvent in a merciless industry…an unapologetic, electrifying account of the artist’s long refusal to relent as it is a larger story of one woman finally emancipating herself.”

The Daily Illini:
(Bella Schott)
“The sheer amount of information on houses, boyfriends’ families, friends and locations made it difficult to finish all 432 pages. Interesting pockets of stories were hidden in an unfocused memory stream.”

[I suspect this was a young college student review. See below.]

Digital Journal:
(Markos Papadotos)
“This is a life story that needs to be experienced by all fans of music, pop, and Cher. There are so many life lessons that people can learn from this fearless and relentless woman…a bold, unflinching, revelatory book, where she doesn’t hold anything back. It truly captures the conscience of a living entertainment icon, and it humanizes her at the same time. Cher is not afraid to be raw and vulnerable. It is evident that Cher is the epitome of toil, resilience, and she possesses an indomitable spirit. Cher is a woman that has found the means to go beyond the ordinary, and she has expanded and redefined music, arts, entertainment, and contemporary storytelling into what it is today.”

SFChronicle:
(Tony Bravo)
“An unflinching story in an era of big celebrity memoirs…in her more than 60 years in show business she has [been] defined by her ability to find new relevance….frank, funny and defiant….this memoir dives much deeper into the big themes, especially the familial…[she] just kept picking herself up, dusting off her beaded Bob Mackie costumes, and continuing to make a place for herself in the changing culture….some of the best writing is about her developing her image, and the roles masters like Vogue editor-in-chief Diana Vreeland and especially her longtime fashion collaborator Mackie played in creating the Cher look…she takes us along on her journey as she slowly finds the Cher signatures–the voice, the sarcastic stage persona, the hair flip…”

[I feel like I missed some of this in the book.]

USA Today:
(Melissa Ruggieri)
“As expected from someone as divinely unflinching as Cher”

Daily Mail (excerpts):
“The full unvarnished story of her life in a rock ‘n’ roll memoir like no other.”

Celebrity Book Club podcast:
So here are two young girls who do reviews of celebrity books. I was keenly interested to get their take on Cher, as young people who have no Cher-life references beyond “Believe.” But I had to stop listening to the full episode after they had to explain who Elvis was. “He was a singer. You might know him from Lisa Marie and Priscilla Presley’s books.”

They thought too much of the book was about childhood and family. But honestly, they don’t have any references for much that happens in Part ONe. They only know “Believe” and one of them vaguely knew “I Got You Babe.” They said they struggled with the lack of biography on the back flap as well. This goes to show you that even for Cher, time marches on and subsequent new humans have little idea of who you are and what you’ve done.

Reviews posted on the book’s Amazon page that I could not find myself online:

“Her wit and candour shine through as she shares stories of love, loss, and resilience. For fans and newcomers alike, the memoir is a vivid reminder of Cher’s enduring influence and the fearless spirit that make her a timeless queen of the industry.” — Glamour

“A must read.” — Stylist (UK)

“Full of unforgettable memories and insights.” — Cosmopolitan (UK)

A compilation of reviews: https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/cher-the-memoir-part-one/

It’s interesting to me how many reviewers use the word grit. It’s an unusual word for them all to coalesce around. Was this is the press material delivered with the book? Or is there just something gritty about the book?

Charts

The book made it to the top of the New York Times bestsellers list and on Amazon (where it’s #2 this week).

As of now the Amazon customer reviews are 4.6 out of 5 (of 1,243 global ratings) and the Goodreads score is 4.39 out of five (

Selected Interviews

Every paper or online site seemed to have some Cher-related excerpt or angle from this book in November and December of 2024. It was a typical Cher media frenzy and yet unlike anything since the mid-1970s.

New York Times interview, “Cher Can, and Does, Turn Back Time” by Elizabeth Egan:
“Even in the annals of single-name celebrities–Cher is in the stratosphere of the one percent…she’s been a household name for decades…a soundtrack for multiple generations, whether via vinyl, eight-track, cassette tape, compact disc or Spotify…a gutsy account of tenacity and perseverance….a cultural history packed with strong opinions, boldface names and head-spinning throwbacks…Cher’s voice reverberates with the grit and depth that made her famous…”

This publication actually caught a rare interview with Cher’s sister, Georganne Bartylak, (a witness who I hope one day also weighs in with her side of the Cher story) and it’s her quote that ends the interview very movingly: “She recalled the day when Cher moved in with Bono. ‘I was only 11 and I was crying my eyes out because she was my only sister and we’d been through everything together,’ Bartylak said. ‘I had a big stuffed pumpkin and on it, Cher wrote, “One day you will be proud of me.” 

Bartylak added, ‘I was already proud.'”

The Times:
(will Hodgkinson)
We get a little trip through Cher’s Malibu house and her air of “unmoving calm [it must be the Buddha statues]…ageless as having transcended concepts of time and space.”

Incredibly this interview took place the day before the U.S. election and Cher says, “Id rather slit my wrists, but he’s going to win. It’s hard to understand why.” How did she know? What intel did she have that even door-to-door campaigners didn’t have?

Hodgkinson says he “practically inhaled [the book]” and found himself “in the unusual position of recommending Cher’s own book to her, because it’s a riot: a revelatory, self-deprecating tale…”

“It’s about not stopping,” says Cher. “I was a loose cannon. It took Sonny to see the potential. He was the planner.”

She also elaborates on why she might be a gay icon: “We’re both outsiders, and they’re always there for me no matter if I’m failing, succeeding…They’re funny, outgoing and not afraid to show emotion.”

“You have to remember, nobody looked like me in showbusiness. I didn’t fit in. I had to make my own position.”

She talks about her difficult relationship with directors Peter Bogdanovich and Frank Oz and defends herself as being easy to work with in other films. “Ask everybody…I know when to listen.”

Hodgkinson thinks he can confirm Alexander Edwards is not living in the house, ” I can’t see any men’s clothes lying about in the bedroom.” He compliments Cher’s 1969 album 3614 Jackson Highway as ” a superb example of soulful funky rock, but it bombed.”

Cher says, “I’m not a great singer. I just do what I do.” She’s never done a whole album of songs she’s been happy with.

She talks about Chaz’s transitioning process, that “three months later they were doing it and not telling me…I felt upset and left out.” She also felt UCLA was using the situation as a press opportunity.

She also talks about Elijah and Gregg Allman. “I told him I was sick and tired of him going in and out of rehab and his answer was, ‘But I keep going.’ It was a little bit eye-opening for me. He was trying.”

Hodgkinson detects “some kind of sadness deep within Cher. She’s not your typical sunny Californian superstar. No questions are off limits. There is nobody monitoring our hour and a half conversation, no suggestion that she is trying to protect or manage a personal brand. She just is, with the resignation that brings. You could call it a form of serenity.”

People:
(Daniela Avila)

Entertainment Weekly:
(Maureen Lee Lenker)
Cher talks about how at the end of writing days she would be really tired. It was exasperating and tiring, but not cathartic or healing. The funny parts kept her going. And how the break of the two books came before her acting career because that was “the beginning of a new life for me.” She hints that Part Two has as many highs and lows. “You can’t be an artist and not go through hard times….sometimes it was fabulous and sometimes it was heartbreaking.”

Oprah Daily:
(Charley Burlock)
“Icons are not born; they are built…[the book gives] insight into how she built and rebuilt herself.” Cher talks about working on the book five to seven hours a day. “There are some things that are just nobody’s business, but there are not a lot. I went way past my comfort zone. Way past.”

“People have gotten so much wrong—especially about Sonny and my relationship. I mean, I did my best, like I really tried so hard to make people try to understand it because it doesn’t play well. We were friends, way after we were divorced….I just didn’t hold a grudge…not really.”

Burlock asks her about her confidence in her style…how she didn’t let criticism of her clothes and outfits get to her. She says “because it was stupid and because it had no meaning to me. I mean, my clothes were beautiful. People are still trying to do the naked dress.”

He asks her to elaborate on why she wasn’t interested in drugs and she says, “Can I tell you something? You’re the only one who has gotten it so far: I wasn’t interested….I didn’t want to do cocaine because when someone was doing cocaine they just talked to you endlessly about boring things. If they were doing downers, you would want to go to sleep along with them….I was just like which one of those things is fun?”

And why the lyrics of the Diane Warren song “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me” are so important to her: “I don’t usually quit. I have to be crawling on the ground–and even then, I’ll crawl on the ground and keep going. Because it’s just who I am.”

Burlock: “Well, it’s gotten you pretty far.

Cher: That’s true.